mche h . hello and welcome to kqed "news room." coming up on our program, california voters weighed in on a host of issues including education, marijuana and the death penalty. we'll analyze the winners and losers. also, political and racial themes have long been part of the arts. we'll look at how they're playing out in the bay area arts scene. plus, nfl hall of famer steve young talks about successes and challenges, both personal and professional. but first, thousands of high school and college students have been staging walk outs and protests reflecting similar demonstrations nationwide in the wake of donald trump's presidential victory. mr. trump and president obama held their first face-to-face meeting this week. both are calling for unity. it is unclear when that will

happen. the election has exposed deep divisions on race, class and economic opportunity. and joining me with a look at what is next is pbs news hour correspondent lisa desjardins. good to have you with us. >> i'm glad to be back. >> what policy moves are we likely to see in the next year or so now that republicans are in control of the house and senate in congress. >> donald trump said what he wants to start working on includes his wall with mexico. hopefully we will see a plan from him on exactly how his payment mechanism would work, but another is obamacare. he has said president-elect trump said he wants to repeal and replace obamacare. it is something house and senate wants. the question is how would they do it. we expect those two to be initial. the third thing i think is something we have to watch right away, which is who would president-elect trump appoint to the supreme court to justice scalia's vacant spot.

>> certainly there's been much speculation about that. he has talked about cutting taxes, shrinking government programs. how will donald trump translate this popular up rising into actually governing? >> right, think he has got to bring around him people who have experience here in washington. we know one thing, his transition team, both campaigns had transition teams in place, but trump's transition team actually has been working longer and has a bigger staff than hillary clinton's did. so they have been looking actually at literal resumes for months for the 4,000 political jobs that he has to fill. they've had a good start to that, but we'll see in the next few months exactly what direction he goes in, does he pick more experienced people or does he go with people from, say, the business world. so political versus business experience, we'll be watching. >> lisa, i also want to ask you about the democratic party. we're having the discussion about the democratic party that republicans had. they lost a lot of working class white voters. now there's a struggle for the

soul and direction of the party. how do they make themselves relevant again? >> i think they have to look at a few things. one is how they work with unions and how relevant are unions today. unions are kind of in the fight for their lives right now. but even as unions are closely alied for the most part with the democratic party, most union workers are concerned about trade. that's something that democrats were not out in front of. that is something that donald trump was clearly going on the attack about all year, and it seems to have swayed a lot of the union and non-union working class voters. trade is a big issue the democrats have to figure out how they get their message across and what that message is, frankly. >> quickly, do you think the democratic party will move a little further to the left to try to get more younger minority voters, especially those inspired by bernie sanders? >> i think the survivors of 2016 would like to see the democratic party move more to the left. i don't know, i'm not exactly sure if that's going to happen. i think we have to watch closely. >> all right, lisa desjardins. i know it's been a busy week for

you. we appreciate your time. thank you for being with us. >> you're welcome. >> turning now to state politics, california voted on 17 ballot measures and sent clear messages about priorities this week. they voted to legalize pot and tighten gun control, but kept the death penalty in place. voters approved more resources for schools and hospitals, and dealt a resounding blow to tobacco companies. here now to discuss local and state elections as well as the impact of a trump presidency on california politics are university of san francisco professor james taylor. kqed senior editor of california politics and government scott schafer. and republican political strategist sean walsh. welcome to you all. sean, how did the trump factor play out in california? before the election there were predictions he might hurt republicans down ballot in the central valley in california. did it all come into play? >> i don't think trump was that much of a factor in california except for the fact people

thought there would be a veto proof majority in senate and house. reps maintained one seat, so jerry brown can't ride rough shot over the legislators. >> students have been taking through the streets in the may area as other protests are happening nationally as well. are we beginning to see the beginning of a possible national movement? >> i think it is too soon to say. obviously many of the protesters were latino and maybe objecting and voicing concerns about immigration policy, deportation and that kind of thing. i would be curious to know, given the turnout of millennial voters was fairly low, you know, i would love to know how active they were in the run up to the election. i think it is too soon if it is going to be a national movement. if it continues to play out, and we'll see what kind of president trump is. we don't know the answer to that either. >> i agree with scott. i look at social movements as part of my research, and it is really interesting as we look at this reaction. i think you have to sort of

attach it to the already-existing movement, so semi-movements or micro movements if you want to call them, going back all the way to occupy, more recently here in california the oscar grant movement, the black lives movement, all local california movements. i think you could see, of course, california is getting the national attention right now in the reaction to trump, is oakland and san francisco, almost predictably, but we see young people still committed. >> and looking down the line, how is trump's -- what effect is trump's victory likely to have in california's gubernatorial race two years from now? former los angeles mayor just announced he is running. >> right. i think at this point, you know, a few days after the election democrats are disspirited, they're depressed, they're wandering around wondering who will lead them out of the wilderness. my guess is, of course we don't know what the mood will be like in two years, but my guess is democrats will be looking for someone who is kark mattic,

someone who is motivational, someone seen as a fighter, not too close to business. and among the people in the race now, and that would include john chunk, the treasurer if he goes to lieutenant governor -- >> all democrats. >> all democrats. i would have to give the edge to neusome, the gun control measure was his measure, and took a high profile lead with marijuana. he is well positioned. but politics are funny things, you can't predict where they will be in two or three years. >> where does tom stier stand in this. >> he is one of the big losers in my view. it is the second election cycle where he spent literally tens of millions of dollars to try to impact the elections in california as well as naksally, and look it like again this year he failed miserably. he told kqed this week he was reconsidering running for governor. he had been looking like he was going to run, now he is having second thoughts. i think, scott, an important thing to note and why trump won is a lot of the industrial policy issues and jobs and

economy issues were very, very impactful. his message of climate change and environment at all costs i think is going a little away from the current of where a lot of working class democrats and labor household members, not labor leadership members are. i think he would have real trouble if he ran for governor with labor democrats. >> interesting. i think one other impact, too, if hillary clinton had won, a number of democrats in california might have gone with her to the white house. dianne feinstein's name was mentioned as a top possible cabinet member. that would have opened up another scramble. that's not going to happen now. so there are fewer places to move to if you're a democrat. >> james, talk about some of the statewide propositions. you know, pot, tax, gun control, loser parole rules. what passed, what didn't? what does it tell us where california is at now? >> when you look at the death penalty, you look at marijuana, at soda, cigarettes, condoms, we are all over the place. seems like we mostly took a liberal position on most of the

positions, but the death penalty obviously counterbalances any of the sort of liberal policy orientation you see in the electorate. the death penalty spoke loud and clear and echoed the trump moment or cultural phenomenon. i think, again, one word we haven't talked about is culture. i think what trump tapped into on the national level was a cultural dimension. clearly here in california the death penalty resonates with trump's general aura, but i imagine trump like you say is probably neutral on the death penalty as he is with so many other serious issues. >> there was the other, prop 66, which would have expedited executions. that is ahead a little bit. i'm skeptical it is going to pass. the death penalty is a funny thing. california has been split down the middle. a lot of folks even if they're not wild about the death penalty, they want to reserve it for the worst of the worse, the scott petersons, the hillside stranglers, those high profile

crimes, cop killers. they want to have the option, even if it never gets put into place zblan interesting skis many you may find with an interesting growing democrat majority. i talk to the former district attorney down in riverside county, which is one of the top counties that sends people to the death chamber, and he believes there are a number of latinos strong on justice and criminal order issue. he thinks the tough on law and order is a message that with resonate with latinos on an ongoing basis. >> as an exception, the number of latinos supporting legalization of marijuana is way up since last time it was on the ballot. that's a community in transition as well. i agree there's a strong law and order element there. >> speaking of marijuana, california passed it, massachusetts and nevada passed it. they join four other states in addition to washington, d.c. where it is legal. is this part of a national movement that may be spreading as well despite trump's victory?

>> it seems to be, and it is not exclusively a democratic issue. there are libraertarians and republicans. i think if you have somebody who is a family member who had cancer, you sort of have become comfortable with the idea of me disnal marijuana, it is not far to get to legalizing it. there's a sense in the country and certainly in california that the war on drugs failed and locking people up for pot possession was not a great thing to do. >> but a federal ban is still in place. how is it going to work out under a trump presidency and republicans with control of the house and senate as well? >> that's a fascinating points, because these states have been ignoring federal law for a long time and the congress opted not to do anything about it, nor since we had democrats in the white house for the past eight years opted not to do anything about it. that said, if rudy giuliani is the attorney general for the united states of america, it is very interesting to see how he will respond or react to this

issue. i don't know if that's a fight donald trump wants to take on, and, quite candidly, if he does maybe somebody comes up with a video of him in his youth, youthful indiscretions, who knows. but there's a chance the federal government could put the hammer down hard. >> this is a way this could benefit those who are pro legalization in that the ideology supports the notion of local controls, state rights. in order to be consistent they would have to defer to the local california leaders. >> want to take a moment to talk about local races as well. pamela harris won the u.s. senate seat. in the state senate race between scott weiner, in the primary with a bernie sanders bump, weiner won. what happened? >> well, i think because, you know, in june that was a hot topic, you know, with bernie sanders versus hillary clinton. that went away in november, and, you know, he endorsed her, she was one of four i think local candidates he endorsed in the whole country, but, you know,

the bern kind of subsided a little bit. you would think with a larger turnout in november that she might have done better as the more liberal of the two candidates but, you know, it just didn't play out that way. >> it affected the whole city now because the city council, the supervisors are clearly in a more centrist division. >> one more thing about camela harris, if you look at the bench nationwide there are not a lot of up and coming democrats. i think camela harris more so than she would will be seen as a rising star in the way programs barack obama, cory booker, elizabeth warren were when they got there. i think whoever becomes governor in california in 2019 could, depending on who it is, could have an elevated role in the leadership of the national democrat ek party because of the derth of people in the pipeline. >> let's to the race in silicon valley before we run out of time because we've been following it all along, both democrat kind of

beat handa after handa spent 16 years in his post. what will kahna do that was different from what mike handa did? >> all he has to do is pretty much get up in the morning to be honest with you. handa has one of the -- >> say what you really think, sean. >> -- poorest records of any legislative member in congress. it is unbelievable. i think he has one bill that actually ever passed. to me it is a minor miracle the man survived in office that long. plus, the controversy with his staff and issues, and it is stunning to me -- >> it was a bit of a blowout. it wasn't close. >> we're going to have to leave it there, gentlemen. always too much to discuss and too little time. sean walsh, james taylor and scott schafer, thank you so much. >> thank you. politics is a frequent theme in the arts world. current bay area arts events showcase stories of resistance

and struggles to a circus in oakland who hip hop and dance. chloe beltman is joining me to offer about the latest art offerings. hi, good to see you. >> nice to be here. >> the election is still much in people's minds. oakland politics is playing a role in the unlikely place, the circus. tell us about that. >> that's right. it is not often circus and politics join forces. a show that runs through december 18th call "inversion, circus disobedience" and it is about civil disobedience and sticking it to the man. there's a bunch of characters involved in this show, tricksters, hippies, and they all go through personal revolutions and then a bigger revolution. there's a combination of ak ro bats and clowning. >> writer and performing has a new dance piece out. sounds like politics are a big part of that piece of work too.

>> indeed. this is a show called "pillow talk," that word in spanish means ball but refers to the game of soccer which is a global phenomenon. it had a positive impact on society and some negative impacts, too. mark bermutti himself grew up as a haitian immigrant. he grew up playing the sport. he is obsessed with it and he created this show that's at the intersection of hip hop, spoken word, dance. it digs into some of the issues to do with the role of soccer players and global economies and politics. >> i think we have a clip. >> let's check out a clip. ♪ >> and beyond the show, joseph works with bay area yeegt in soccer and he's quite a local treasure, recognized by the united states artists, rock feller fellowship in the annual list of greatest living artists. >> that's right. he's a tremendous artist and a

tremendous activist. as part of the show he is doing a big outreach with youth soccer clinics and kind of helping young people connect the dots between the game and politics on a global scale. >> all right. that is through sunday, november 20th, right? >> that's right. through the 20th at the center for the arts. >> let's move to the south bay. mocla is space in san jose's main hub for latino arts and culture and they're presenting a series of concerts by an extraordinary puerto rican born latin neo soul singer. >> that's right. she is performing a series of concerts, as you say, this weekend at macla. she has this great voice. it is warm and it is sultry, and she covers such themes as her puerto rican heritage and peace and healing. we actually have her submit -- part of her submission for npr's tiny desk competition. should we take a listen? >> yes.

♪ smile ♪ >> very sultry. she's also quite a talented painter. >> that's right. she is a muralist. in her hometown of chicago she created this wonderful miracle called weave in culture. she is deeply political. works in collaboration with another artist pam kirk. it is a splendid image of line of women of different ethnicities. >> we are seeing her at work. and she works with the chicago public school system, so very involved in her community. >> that's right. >> all right. it is veteran's day. this weekend, the fifth edition of the san francisco veteran's film festival is kicking off, and it is devoted to narrative and documentary films exploring the topic of war. >> that's exactly right. i would love for us to check out one particular film. there are lots of great offerings this year. but let's look at "tango in the balcony." it is a fictional short that

explores an iraqui war veteran dealing with ptsd. you have a weapon, a detonator, something. >> were you one of the kids selling cigarettes and junk on the street? did you go to school? >> don't know. >> i don't know if you're telling the truth. >> why were you home that day? >> you don't know! >> and this is at the san francisco public main library branch. >> that's right, this weekend. >> okay. any charge? >> no, it is free. >> okay. well, that is a great way to wrap up the week. happy veteran's day to you. >> happy veteran's day to you, too. >> thank you so much, chloe. >> thank you. >> let's turn to the sports wall. hall of fame quarterback steve young captivated football fans during his 13 seasons with the san francisco 49ers. despite his success, he struggles with anxiety both on

and off the field, even as a kid. scott schafer spoke with him about his new memoire, qb, my life behind the spiral. >> steve young, welcome to "news room." >> thank you very much. >> this book, "quarterback, qb, my life behind the spiral," has a lot of football in it but a lot of off the field stuff about you, the person, a lot of dealing with anxieties and vulnerabilities. why did you decide to write that kind of book? >> i was unnerved when my kids were growing up and hearing stories at school and they would come home and say, dad, i heard this, i heard that. it was not right. i thought to myself, i've got to -- >> tell your story. >> to them, you know. and so i hired jeff benedict to put an area together, call my teammates, talk to me at times, talk to my family and people in my life,e, and i want to give something to my children. that's what we did. >> what kind of stories were they hearing that were wrong? >> well, it was like -- inevitably it was something about joe montana and we fought. i heard that you punched him.

you know, i was like just the idea that you would think i would do that or that we had a fight, because we never did, despite all of the people who thought that it was so hard. it was never toxic. it was always positive to our play. you know, so it was stuff that i just -- i wanted to at least say, as you grow up and get older and people say, i heard this about your dad, you can go back and say, my dad told me it was this way. >> so much of this at least at the beginning and throughout the book is about your anxiety, separation anxiety as a kid. >> yeah. >> and it wasn't until you were an adult that you really understood what was going on. >> right. >> talk about that process and what it meant to you. >> i remember my younger brothers and sisters, i have four younger brothers and sisters, my parents went out of town in second grade and i was beside myself, wailing and carrying on. my younger sister was like, what's wrong with steve. i remember, still remember her saying that. i don't know what's wrong with steve. steve is really struggling. i think if you take that

experience and it is a genetic thing that i didn't know, and just, you know, now i know it is in my mom's family and sprinkled around and different, even one of my sons might have a touch of this. you know, not knowing and living through all of the things that happened, but it informs so much of what happens. i actually chose a profession where you go in front of 80,000 people, and not only that but i'm going to go and try to replace jim mcmahon in college with 73 in state records and joe montana as a pro. that will be great. this is a perfect combination, this will go well. >> how much of the anxiety was fuelled by that. of course it was a piece. i expect mine was three iterations higher. people who knew what my story was, would come to me, steve, i know you kind of had this. my son is struggling and what would you say? the first thing i tell them is you will never completely understand it. it will not rationalize to you, so you need to know that you can't say, you know. >> get through it.

>> just get through it. but by getting through it over and over and over again through my whole life, by the end of my career by going through it, my dad was right, it really was fine. it waned. i think that's why i wanted to keep playing, because i was having for the first time so much fun. >> because you wanted to play. you're very competitive. what was it that finally convinced you to give it up? >> one thing my dad said. he said, steve, is it the season that's vital, is it that vital you have this 19th season? >> i remember thinking probably not that vital. so that started to inform my decision about, you know -- and then a lot of people in the bay area, and i mean a lot, would come up to me and be like the italian grandmother, grab me by the face and stay, steve, no more. i wanted to say, don't worry, i'm fine. but it would disrespect almost how they were feeling. that's another thing that was part of it. another big part was that the 49ers had become such a part of

who i was that i couldn't really imagine playing for somebody else. i was having so much fun playing. for the first time. it wasn't the anxiety. you know, it had waned and i was enjoying it, so that was putting it all in the middle, was the final tough decision to just say, no more. >> of course you were in a quarterback competition with joe montana. that's another one now between blaine gabbert and colin kaepernick. what is your take about how it affects the team on and off the field. >> if you say blaine gabbert and colin kaepernick together can be toxic, you have to stop that. you can't have toxic things in your locker room. it seems like both of these guys aren't. >> what about the -- >> i think colin has work -- i think he did a good job of communicating with the team. they brought themselves together. chip kelly, the head coach, seems to have communicated and they've kind of come to a place where they're all together on that. so that's the key. because the locker room is like a nation unto itself.

there's certain laws, there's certain constitution and it is very tender and precious, and great locker rooms are hard to find and toxic relationships crater teams all the time. >> you talk a lot in the book about your mormon faith. you were actually the great, great, great grand some of brigham young, right? >> yes. >> and you don't drink, you follow the tenets of your mormon faith, and yet you and your wife have really gotten involved in lgbt, gay family issues. >> yes. >> why? >> it is making sure we fulfill the whole measure of what we're promising, we can do this together. i think the theology is we're all in it together, and more than anything it is an effort to make sure we reach out and do all that we can. so i think that's -- you know, i credit my wife forgiving me that sense of passion for it, because the spiritual warriorship i see in our lgbt brothers and sisters is really an inspiration. >> your life it seems could have taken a different course. your mom didn't want you to play

football. you were a very good pitcher and you played basketball as well. you get to byu, you're number eight on the length chart. it could have turned out differently. do you think about that and what the other path might have looked like? >> there's a moment in the book i'm finishing with college and playing was such a difficulty in dealing with the feelings of anxiety. it was like, steve, don't go pro. there's a moment when the cincinnati bengals are in town to work me out because they have the first draft pick and i say to myself, don't go pro. i look into the stadium and i'm like, no, we're going pro. there's a part of me that krafs and loves challenge and what's the next mountain, let's climb it, let's do it. the good news is no matter what i chose i was always looking for the next thing to climb despite the rigor of some of the other things i had a feeling for. i don't think even if my mom would have won early, i think i would have found something to go climb. >> all right. steve young, and the book is

called "qb, my life behind the spiral." thanks for coming in. >> thanks so much. >> before we go we would like to thank our veteran's for their service to our country. happy veteran's day, everyone. for all of kqed a's coverage go to kqed.org. i'm tway vu. thanks for watching. ♪ ♪

>>what path might you take in your quest for total health... >>optimum health that encompasses mind, body and spirit. >>so join us now as we head to the frontiers of integrative health and well-being >>with judy brooks, >>roy walkenhorst thanks so much for joining us today for the first show in a new healing quest season - our 13th! >>this season we're focusing on the health of our brain, one of the miracles of the universe. >>our brains have up to two hundred billion cells and about a hundred trillion connections. >>with our inner world guide michele bernhardt we've consulted some of the top experts in the world on the cutting edge research being done and what it could mean to us. >>we'll also see how activities like music and dance can help our brains stay healthy, we'll learn the two surprising and simple